Hinged closure



June 2, 1959 A, D, PAULL ETAL 2,889,087

HINGED CLOSURE Filed Aug. 13, 1956 INVENTOR.

AMBROSE. D- PAULL. HOWARD A. KELkY. RONALD A. MUDGE.

ATTORNEYS.

Un t S tes P n HINGED CLOSURE Ambrose D. Paul], Wheeling, Howard A.Kelly, Triadelphia, and Ronald A. Mudge, Wheeling, W. Va., as-

signors to Wheeling Stamping Company, Wheeling, W. Va., a corporation ofWest Virginia Application August 13, 1956, Serial No. 603,621

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-498) This invention is for a hinged closure for useprimarily on collapsible tubes, but applicable also to other types ofcontainers, and is for a closure made entirely of plastic.

Many attempts have been made to provide a so-called captive cap forexpendable containers, such as collapsible tubes. The market requirestube caps to be formed of plastic, but the nature of plastic is suchthat the provision of a satisfactory hinge has presented a diflicultproblem. Such a cap must first form a tight seal and not be likely toopen when the tube is being filled or transported, and it must remainsecure whenever it is closed until the contents of the receptacle areconsumed. It must be compact and pleasing in appearance. It must open toa position where it will not be in the way when the contents of the tubeare being discharged. It must be of a form such that it can be molded inmolds of a practical design, and it must be cheap. The labor required toassemble it must be such that large numbers can be rapidly assembled sothat the labor cost per unit is'within a commercially practical range.

The most successful attempts in this direction have been in the form ofa collar and cap member integrally connected by a hinge strap, the piecebeing molded from polyethylene so that the strap itself serves as ahinge, but a serious draw-back with such a construction is that when thecap is open, it springs back to a closed or partly closed position, andhence is in the way.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a closurehaving separately formed cap and collar elements with a pivoting hingeconnection provided by parts integrally molded on the cap and collarelements, and which are so designed that advantage can be taken of theinherent resilience of the plastic in interfitting the parts inassembled relation, enabling the operation to be effected easily andrapidly. Further important objects of our invention are to provide aclosure which is cheap, practical, secure and of good appearance, andwith the cap movable to a fully open position in which it will remainuntil manually closed.

Our invention may be more fully understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a tube and closure assemblyembodying our invention with the cap closed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the cap open;

Fig. 3 is a plan view on a larger scale of the collar element;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the collar element, also on a largerscale;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the cap element corresponding to Figs. 3 and4 respectively; and

Fig. 7 is a view showing the closure turned upside down and open toillustrate how the closure remains open against gravity.

In the drawings, 2 designates a container, such as a collapsible tubehaving an integral neck 3, here shown as having an annular groove 4around its exterior intermediate the top and bottom of the neck.

A sleeve element 5, formed of a slightly resilient plas- 'ice tie suchas polyethylene or the like, is designed to be tightly fitted over theneck with an internal bead 6 that engages in the groove 4 and preventsaccidental removal of the collar and gives added assurance againstleakage or loss of volatile ingredients during the shelf-life of thecontainer. At one point on the periphery of the collar, which point ishereinafter for convenience referred to as the back or back edge, thereis a lateral extension or lug 7. This lug has two loop elements 3extending upwardly from the top thereof at each side, the loops ineffect being extensions of the two ends of the lug, so that the loopsare firmly attached to the cap. Each loop (see Fig. 3) has a straightbottom portion 3a, a semicircular top portion 812, and straight outerextensions 8c. The loops may be open or closed, open loops being shownin substantially the form of an inverted U.

The top of the collar or sleeve element 5 has an upwardly-extendingexternally undercut rim or bead 9 thereon of less diameter than thediameter of the sleeve.

The cap or closure element 10 is also preferably formed of a resilientplastic such as polyethylene, and it has an interior cavity 11 and aflat face 12. The cap may, however, be formed of urea, phenol or otherplastics. The cavity 10 has a contour matched to the contour of the rimor bead 9, with the side walls of the cavity being undercut, so that thecap may be pressed against the top of the sleeve and, because of theinherent resilience of the materials, the cap will snap over the rim,with the flat face of the cap engaging the flat top of the collar, thetop of the bead 9 seating against the bottom of the cavity 11, as shownin Fig. 1, and with the undercut side faces of the cavity and beadinterlocked to form a tight closure.

At one point on the periphery of the cap, designated for convenience theforward edge, is a protruding lip 22 by which pressure may be applied tothe cap to disengage or lift it from the closed position.

Diametrically opposite the lip, at the rear edge of the cap, is alaterally-extending projection 13 of a width to just fit between theloops 8, and extending transversely from each side of the projection areoppositely-extending pintle elements 14, which are spaced from the wallof the cap. The wall of the cap is provided with slightly protrudingabutments or flat surfaces 15 which confront but are spaced from thepintle elements, the space being equal to the thickness of the loops 8.

In assembling the cap and sleeve, the loops 8 are sprung upwardly, orlaterally if they are closed, and the pintle elements are entered underthe loops, the loops being engaged between the pintle elements and theconfronting flat surfaces 15 on the cap. When the cap is in the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 2, the pintle elements are concentric withthe semi-circular portions 8b of the loop, and the flat surfaces 15 aretangent to this curve, and the cap swings easily. When the cap is movedto the full open position of Fig. 7, the flat portion of the loop isconfined between the pintle and the flat surfaces 15, exerting ayieldable pressure and increased friction on the loops because the flatsurfaces are parallel, whereas the cap moves in an arc, tending therebyto keep the cap in this position, and its own weight is insufiicient tocause the cap to overcome this binding engagement between the cap andloops, even when the container 2 is inverted. With slight pressure fromones finger, the cap will, however, be released and easily swung to aclosed position. When it reaches the dotted line position shown in Fig.2 it is centered over the end of the tube and the loops, because oftheir contour, resist closing of the cap, tending to spring it up.However it may be readily pushed into closed position, but when pressureis placed on the lip 22 to open the cap, the cap, when disengaged, willspring to a slightly open position 3 From this position it is readilymoved to the full open position.

The two parts of the closure, the cap and collar, can be separately andeconomically molded. Because of the resilience of the plastic, anoperatorcan rapidly assemble the two parts while at the same timeinspecting them, and the collars are then forced onto the necks of thetubes. Alternatively, the collars can be mounted on the tubes and thenthe pintles of the caps engaged with the loops and the caps pressedclosed, making the tube ready for filling.

The cap is convenient to use because of the fact that it is easilyoperated, but when open, is held in the full open position againstgravity, even when the container is inverted, and hence does notinterfere with the discharge of the contents of the tube.

We claim:

1. A container with a closure wherein the container has a top with a capengaging bead and a lateral offset with a pair of upwardly andoutwardly-turned loops, the closure having a cavity for releasablyinterlocking with the bead, an extension on the closure at one edgethereof received between the loops and having opopsitely projectingpintle elements thereon, and means on the closure having bindingengagement with the loops when the cap is fully open to releasablyretain the cap in open position.

2. A hinged closure for a container wherein the container has a top witha cap engaging bead and the cap has an undercut cavity for releasablyinterlocking with said bead, said top having thereon a lateral offset, apair of resilient loops extending upwardly from and turned backwardlytoward said offset, and said closure having an extension at one edgethereof received between said loops, a pair of oppositely facing pintleelements formed on said extension and received within the compass ofsaid loops, and abutment means provided on the closure aesaosv at eachside of the extension for releasably binding the loops between theabutment and the pintle elements when the cap is fully open to retainthe cap in open position.

3. A collapsible tube having a plastic collar secured thereto, thecollar having a bead over which a cap may be snapped and having alateral extension with two parallel hinge elements extending upwardlyfrom the face of the extension and being outwardly looped above thelevel of the bead wtih the extreme outer ends of the loop extendingstraight down tangential to the curve of the loop portion, a plastic caphaving a skirt designed to releasably snap over the bead on the collarand having a lateral extension that extends between the parallelelements, said extensions of the cap having transverse pintle elementsthereon which are received in the loops, the loops and pintle elementscooperating to provide a hinge for the cap in the plane of the head, thecap having a flat surface confronting the pintle elements with theupwardly extending hinge elements on the collar being parallel with saidfiat surfaces when the cap is closed and being confined at all timesbetween said flat surface and the pintle elements, and with said flatsurfaces on the collar being parallel with straight downwardly extendingends of the hinge elements when the cap is turned 180 about the axes ofthe pintle elements.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,470,686 Carpenter Oct. 16, 1923 2,096,802 Griner Oct. 26, 19372,111,186 Jenks Mar. 15, 1938 2,690,861 Tupper Oct. 5, 1954 2,734,222.Kiba Feb. 14, 1956 2,764,199 Tupper Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS61,993 Norway Jan. 29, 1940

